In the current prescription drug system, patients typically fill prescriptions at a retail pharmacy or by mail order. However, due to the need for patient involvement in completing the process of filling prescriptions, such as for example, inconvenience of waiting for the pharmacy to obtain the drug, traveling to the pharmacy, submitting a mail order prescription, the high cost of the drugs, and other factors, many prescriptions are never filled.
In addition, once the drugs are prescribed, there may be no tracking as to whether the prescription is filled, and/or no outcome data or transparency as to the efficacy of the drugs. Doctors, patients, and insurers are unable to compare the effectiveness of different drugs on different types of patients.